As Mordant let the other down, Walker had been the first to land on the most open space that he saw. This place was an odd spot in the midst of this jungle island. While there were no signs that anyone had ever been in this spot, Walker found out what had happened to make the bare spots here and there.
Small burned pieces of rotting wood were strewn about here and there. "Lightning stuck this area and it went out before it spread.a jungle is a pretty wet place." Walker studied everything he could and still didn't spot anything that posed a danger. But it was clear that everything avoided this area. Even the monsters didn't walk through here.
As the others landed and Mordant took his dragonkin form, they noticed this oddity as well. Naturally, the investigation started instantly. Gil was the one that was the most vocal.
"It doesn't make a single bit of sense that there aren't any monsters coming through here. Look, there are small berries growing that they could eat. It's because they finally have the sun to grow. But nothing touched them." he was stumped too.
"I used all around appraisal and all I see is wood. Burnt wood and some ash." Walker supported Gil a little. But this area had been destroyed fairly recently by lightning. Enough that the small plants had started to regrow, but others had not.
"Did a monster do it?" Alice knew of the monsters that the party had faced. She also understood that some others could use lighting in some form or fashion. This was more believable in her mind. Especially when it came to the odd way that this space was not the only one showing signs of lightning strokes. They had all seen more spots like this through the jungle.
"No, I think Walker will like what Su and I found more than if it was a monster." Alice turned her head in curiosity while Su and Remey showed off what they had just dug up from their awkward landing spot in this jungle island.
'Lightning crystal ore
The lighting crystal is a forced fusion of elemental energies. Normally, lightning crystals can not form unless forced to fuse for a temporary amount of time. Specifically, a temporary amount of time before the manas are forcefully dispersed through teh shattering of the crystal.
When lightning naturally strikes certain ores, the crystals can form and become trapped in a balance with the natural earth mana within that ore. It creates a lightning crystal ore that would only ever be found in areas often struck by lighting. Even tops of mountains will only ever have a small amount. Forcefully creating this ore is also extremely hard due to the strict balance needed to create it.
Due to these ores existing, there is a very high chance that lightning will strike again in the same place. This causes monsters and anything with sharp senses to avoid the area.'
Walker read all of this out loud while looking at the yellow and white crystals within the rough rocky ore that Remey and Su had dug out of the ashes. It was clear that lighting had struck here many times and this was the result. It also meant that there were multiple chunks of this ore all over the jungle island.
"That's amazing! I never heard of such an ore!" Mordant was the most amazed by this since he believed that they would not find something so astounding right away. They had barely set foot on this unexplored island. A new continent, a new island, and even more new things just seemed to be attracted to the party. It was as if he was part of a grand story that brought amazing things right to his view without any effort.
"At least it all makes sense, but can this really be used to make things? Wouldn't breaking it or forging it ruin the balance?" the question that Gil had made sense and was directed at Walker who should have an idea since he had the sharpest mana senses.
"I would say yes, but If we gather some more of this and hand it to our trusty wandering blacksmith…" Everyone knew that doing this would be the same as gaining another amazing weapon or armor. It would be a great gift and challenge to thor friend who wanted nothing more than this.
"Brother, sister and I smell something." Onyx looked around carefully. He and Midnight both smelled something different from them. A monster or something else. Mordant had caught it too but was impressed with how Onyx and Midnight had also easily caught the smell. He hadn't expected their senses to have grown to this level yet.
"Less like we have something around but more that we are being watched." Su caught a glimpse of a shadow moving through the jungle just further away. It appeared that there was something curious about their group.
"No, we just found it. But I doubt they are ready to just speak with us." Walker followed Su's sightline and picked up on what she had seen. However, he was using the all around appraisal as the figure darted from tree to tree and around vines.
'Echidna
This is an echidna. Due to the dragon blood that once ran through their veins, over the years the ancient echidna bloodline related to medusa, gorgon, and other great serpent type monsters has awakened. The birth of an echidna is what most would call half human and half serpent.
The most powerful of echidna can appear within three forms, serpent, humanlike, and also half serpent half human like. This is similar to what many would see as a demi-human in the world. However, they are vastly different because of their unique speed, magical abilities, and incredible flexibility.
Jungles are their natural habitat but they are extremely adaptable to deserts and even mountains.
After being forced from their homes, the ancient echidna founded the jungle island. Enhancing their ability to become one within nature, they gained the minute ability to manipulate natural mana and grow the jungle even more.
The echidna can vary in elemental affinity while also mix their elemental affinities. They have isolated themselves on a single island for generations creating an extremely unique culture and race. They have not encountered another sentient species in generations…'
There was even more information that Walker couldn't keep up with. The form of the darting echidna was moving quickly away from them after it realized that the group had narrowed in on it. Yet, Walker was sure that this was what was left of the race they had been chasing.
"That dragon blood inside them when they were in the mummified city was making them more similar to dragonkin or something halfway between a lizard and a dragonkin. But after generations it awakened an ancient bloodline related to ancient monsters like gorgon, medusa, or great serpents. Now they are called the echidna race. Half serpent, half human is the best way to describe them."
As much as Walker wanted to complete the quest and learn more, the quest had not completed. It made him realize that just finding the ancient race was too small of an action. The group needed to do more than that.
"We are going to meet them, right?" Gil's smirk told everyone what they were thinking and what he was thinking. They had just gotten a glimpse of what they were here to dio and what might expand the world's knowledge as well. All they had to do was find this echidna race and meet them.
"Onyx, you might be doing the talking." Walker forewarned Onyx since telepathy might be the best way to speak to them. They might have their own language that the world might not help them with right away. But then again, Walker considered that the world might have already translated everything but wanted to be sure no matter what. It was always a surprise regardless.
"Let's go." out of everyone to begin to take the lead, it was Alice. She appeared to be more driven after seeing that onyx had really been taking the lead. She had spent a lot of time with him as he helped the hatchlings in the cathedral. She believed that it was her turn to show off a little and take the lead since he had shouldered a lot of burden lately. This just made everyone else a little more motivated to see too.
Alice was a pure person, always caring for others. The fact that she wanted to meet this new race even more than them made it all the more evident how she had become one of their party. She was an adventurer too now, different continents, a different path than others, and even more so, a different discovery every day.
….
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